Ministers At War: Rice boils over

This is a new high in the politics of vendetta. During a closed-door meeting that included officials, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said in response to a casual query on the rice export scam, "Kamal Nath will go to jail." This has been disclosed to India today by an eyewitness on condition of anonymity. Nath was the commerce minister during UPA-1. It was during his watch that the alleged Rs 2,500-crore rice export scam took place. Personal rivalry between the former and the current commerce ministers has stepped up from competition to bitter hatred.

In December 2007, the Government lifted a ban on the export of non-basmati rice and okayed the export of 13.2 lakh tonnes of it to African countries. The decision was taken by an Empowered Group of Ministers of which Pranab Mukherjee, then external affairs minister, and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar were members along with Nath. The decision to export rice to Africa was taken by the mea and the quantity to be exported was decided by the Department of Food, which is under the agriculture ministry.

ANAND SHARMA, Commerce Minister- Thinks Kamal Nath could go to jail for the 2008-09 rice export scam. He told Parliament there were "certain infringements" and that PSUs were cheated of their profit by private companies.

Barely able to hide his glee, Sharma told Parliament on November 18 that "certain infringements had been noticed". According to him, with the exception of Mauritius, the "exporting PSUs of the Department of Commerce did not follow a transparent procedure" in this transaction.

The allegation being that the PSUs kept only a meagre margin of profits (between 1 and 1.5 per cent) and instead outsourced the exports to domestic private companies who made huge profits. A Directorate General of Foreign Trade official refutes this, and says, "It's the norm for PSUs to operate on a small margin of assured profits and to outsource the risk, and the profits, to private players. Not just in rice exports, but also for other commodities like gems and non-ferrous metals."

KAMAL NATH, former commerce minister- Nath's case is that it was an EGoM that decided on the exports. Letters from the Department of Food clearly state that the exports should be done "through" PSUs and not "by" them.

Sharma has asked the Central Vigilance Commission to investigate. Meanwhile, a campaign of innuendos and leaks by the commerce ministry has been unleashed, claiming that Nath's head could roll along with the PSU chiefs. The blame cannot be laid solely at Nath's door.

Former commerce ministry officials point out that on all communication by the Department of Food to the MEA and the commerce ministry - such as letters dated January 22, 2008, January 18, 2008 and April 28, 2009 - the export should be "through" the PSUs and not "by" them. The January letter asks the commerce ministry to "nominate PSUs to coordinate the exports". Sharma says it was the importing countries that chose the domestic private players.

There's more at stake than rice. It's the old Congress style where Sharma hopes to score brownie points by attacking one who has fallen out with the high command. The two compete for the same portfolios. Only Nath has won more than one Lok Sabha election.

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